Loading apparatus for mining



N. D. LEVIN LOADING APPARATUS FOR MINING Dec. 11,1923.

Dec.` 11, 1923.

N. D. LEVIN LOADING APPARATUS FOR MINING C5 Sheets-Sheet 2 OriginalFiled Oct. 22, 1910 Patented Dec. 11 1923.

UNITED STATES 1,476,897 PATENT OFFICE.

NILS D. LIEVIN, OIFl COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE JEFFREYMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

LOADING APPARATUSFOR MINING.

Original applicationlcd October 22, 1910, Serial No. 588,471. Dividedand this application filed March 6, 1918, Seria1 No. 220,818. RenewedApril 30, 1923.

To vall whom it may concern Be it known that I, NILs D. LnvIN, a citizenof the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklinand 6 State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Loading Apparatus for Mining, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to conveying and loading mechanism used withdevices for breaking down coal previously undercut and loading it intocars for removal from the mines.

The object of the invention is to provide devices of this charactercapable of handling the coal in the manner stated eectively and with thegreatest possible degree of economy. The nature of the invention will beset forth in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying my invention, aportion of the machine 'being broken away to permit il- 25 lustration ona larger scale than would otherwise be possible.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe machine.

Fig. 3 is a' fragmentary side elevation showing the moving carriage uponwhich the drill or auger is mounted.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section through a portion of the augershowing the hydraulic plungers mounted therein.

Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. -7 is a vertical section in the same plane as Fig. 6 showing aremovable shaft section which is used at times in connection with themachine.

Fig. 8 is a vertical longitudinal section of a part of the auger showinga modification of the coal breaking device.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic View of the face of the coal' showing themanner in which the auger is driven into the coal to break it down.

Referring in ydetail to the construction, A is the main frame of themachine; B is an endless conveyer mounted thereon; C is a carriageslidably mounted on the carriage frame A; D is an auger adjustablymounted on the carriage C; E isa motor adapted to drive the auger andthe conveyer B, and

F is an auxiliary conveyer ada ted to reeeive coal from the conveyer anddischarge it into the cars.

The main frame A consists of a horizontally extending pan-likestructure-l having a central longitudinally extending rib member 2 whichdivides the pan into two parallel troughs. In these troughs are disposedthe'moving parts of the conveyer B which latter consists of a chain 3carrying suitably spaced vanes of iights 4.. The rib part 2 serves as aguide for theconveyer chain. This chain preferably has its pivot jointsalternately at right angles to each other, as indicated in Fig. 1, sothat the chain is universally flexible. This is necessary, because therear part of the main frame A is inclined upward and rearward as shownin Fig. 2.

The main frame A has a plate-like extension 5 which underlies theupwardly inclined portion of the frame. Aj yoke 6 which is mounted onthe plate or base 5 extends upward and over the main part of the frame 1to which it is rigidly attached. On the upper end of the yoke is formeda bearing 7 for the vertical shaft 8,- and the lower part of this Shafthas a bearing 9 carried by the frame part l. 10 is asprocket wheel faston the shaft 8 which drives,the conveyer chain 3, the shaft being drivenby the motor E. This motor is mounted upon a bracket 11 carried by theinclined part of the main frame A, the shaft 12 of said motor having abevel pinion 1,3 which meshes with the bevel gear 14.- on the shaft 8.The endless conveyer at its front end passes over a sprocket wheel 15which is suitably mounted on the frame A.

The carriage C consists of a base part 16 which is slidably mounted uponthe rib 2 of the frame (see Fig. 4,) and upstanding bearing arms orpedestals 17, 18. The motor shaft 12 hasl a forward extending section12a. The rear end of the shaft section 12a is supported by a bearingbracket 11- and is connected by a disengagable clutch device 12b to themotor shaft 12. The front end of the shaft 12 is disposed in thebearings of the pedestals 17, 18. 'Disposed between the pedestals 17 and18 an'd mounted upon the shaft 12 is a swinging yoke comprising tworadius arms 19 and 19".

The rear branch or arm 19l of this yoke is formed at'its inner end witha segmental worm wheel 20. 21 is a worm which is mounted in a bearingbracket 22. secured to the rear pedestal 17 of the carriage. This wormmeshes with the segmental worm wheel 2() and can be turned by means of acrank 23 to cause the yoke. to swing about its axis, it being understoodthat the shaft 12a lturns freely in the yoke.

The auger D is rotatably mounted 1n the free ends of the yoke arms 19a,19", and is driven by the large spur ear 24 which 1s slidably keyed onthe sha t 12 and which uieshes with a spur pinion 25 secured to theshaft of the auger D. The auger in its preferred form carries cuttingtools 26, 26 at its front end. It will be seen that with the augermounted in the manner shown and described, it is possible to drive itfrom the motor in any one of a variety of posltions 1n which it may beplaced by swinging thel yoke through something over 180. The carriage Cupon which the auger is mounted is, as 1t was stated, slidably mountedupon the main frame, and a screw 27 which is mounted at its rear end ina bearing 28 and which at its forward end is threaded through the baseof thecarriage, serves to move the carriage backward and forward on themain frame, a hand crank '29 being provided to turn the screw.

The auger D is rovided with means for breaking the coal own after theauger-has been driven into the coal. A preferred form of the breakingmeans is shown in the drawing. A series of hydraulic plungers 30, 30 aremounted in cylindricaly cavities 31, 31 formed in the auger, thecylinders and plungers being disposed transversely of the auger and inone axial plane thereof. The cylin-v drical cavities 31, 31 communicatewith each other through passages 32,32, and the rearmost cavity of theauger isin communication with the passage 33 which leads to the rear endof the auger shaft where it issues axially. 34 is a hand force'pumpwhich is mounted upon a bracket 35 of the carriage C. This pump has itssuction passage in communication with a reservoir 36 which contains asupply of water or other suitable liquid. The discharge pipe 37 of thepump is connected to a hose 38 which in turn is connected to the passage33 of the auger, the hose being provid-ed at its discharge end with anozzle 39 which extends through a suitable stuffing box 40. 41 is aby-pass pipe leading from thedischarge pi 37 of the pump into thereservoir 36. T e by-pass is controlled by a hand actuated control valvethe hose 38 and passages 32, 32 into the cyliriders 31 and causes theplungers'30 to be forced outward. A sprin 43 is mounted under the headof each o the plungers 30 and serves to retract the plunger when thcliquid pressure is withdrawn, which is done by opening the valve 42 Iinthe by-pass 41 so that the liquid can flow freely back into thereservoir 36.

It will be seen that after the auger has been driven forward into thecoal, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the hydraulic pressure can be appliedto the plungers mounted in the auger to break down the underlying coalupon the endless conveyer which extends into the bottoni kerf, it beingunderstood that said bottom kerf is reviously cut by any of the wellknownun ercutting devices. The coal thusfbroken down is carried rearwardby the endless conveyer B, and in order that it may be discharged intocars without manual labor, I provide the auxiliary conveyer F.

The conveyer F comprises a `main frame part 44 in the form of anelongated pan which is divided by a central longitudinal rib part 45into two parallel troughs to receive the moving parts of the conveyerwhich, as shown, comprises a chain 46 and flights 47. The conveyer frame44 has its front and rear end parts horizontal with an intermediateinclined part. It is supported upon a truck 48, the rear end of theconveye'r frame 44 being provided with a dependin pivot pin 49 whichextends loosely throug an aperture in the upper end of a bracket 50 onthe truck. The frame 44 carries on its under side a wheel 51 which isdesigned to run upon an arcuate plate 52 on the truck platform. Thusmounted on the truck, the'frame` can be swung through a considerablerange about the pivot 49.

In o eration the conveyer F has its receivling en disposed beneath therear end of the conveyer B, and preferably the conveyer l" is drivenfrom the motor E which drives thc conveyer B. 53 is the driving sprocketwheel'on the conveyer F, it.being mounted on a short shaft 54 whichmounted in a suitable bearing 55 carried by the pan 44 of the conveyer.(See Fig. 6). An idle sprocket wheel 56 for the conveyer chain 46 ismounted in a similar manner at the rear end of the conveyer F. The upperface of the sprocket wheel 53 is formed with clutch teeth 57 which areada )ted to be engaged bv the teeth of a sliding clutch 58 which isslidably connected upon the lower end of the shaft 8 and which can beraised and lowered by a hand lever 59. When the receiving end of theconveyer F has been moved under the discharge end of the conveyer B, thedriving sprocket 53 .of the former conveyer can be operatively7connected to the shaft 8 of the conve er by simply lowering the clutch58. n this way too the two conveyers are pivotally or flexibly connectedto each other,

andas the truck 4:8k is free to'move on the track, it will be seen thatthe conveyer F 'Io effect the lateral movement of the ma-' rotatablmounted a spur gear 61. This gear.

has on lts upper side clutch teeth 62 which are at all times inengagement with the teeth of a sliding clutch 63. 64 is a toothed clutchdisc fast on the lower end of the shaft 54 of conveyer F, and by slidingthe clutch' 63 upward into engagement with the disc 64e,l

the latter is connected to the gear 61. 65 is a suitably mounted handlever designed to shift the clutch 63. 66 is a winding drum arranged toturn about a vertical axis, and 67 is a large spur gear connected tosaid drum and mounted in mesh with the gear 61. One end of the cable 68is secured to the winding drum 66 and thence extends to the leftparallel to the face, passes over pulleys 69 and 70 which are anchoredin any suitable manner by jacks or props 71, 72, and thence passes alongthe face of the coal to the machine, being made fast at 73 to the mainframe A. It will be seen that when the clutch 63 is thrown to operativeposition, the winding drum 66 is turned causing the cable to be wound upand the machine to be drawn laterally along the face of the coal.Furthermore, the construction and arrangement of these devices is suchthat they are adapted to move the main frame laterally in parallelism sothat it is maintained at the same angle to the coal face. 7 4 is apulley mounted on the base 5 at the left side of the machine, and isadapted to have the cable 68 passed over it and extended forward to a4point'a'djacent the face of the coal and there made fast when it isdesired to move the ma-.

I main frame A and the conveyer B have been chine endwise into thebottom kerf.

Itis at times desirable to drive the winding drum 66 when the conveyer Fis not in operative position. To make this possible, I provide a shortshaft section 75 which is shown in Fig. 7. This shaft is designed to beinserted between the movable clutch' memlbers 58 and 63 and is formedIat its ends with teeth to engage the teeth of said clutch members. Byinserting the shaft section 75, the gear 61 can be connected to theshaft 8 and driven from the motor E. In4

sleeves, the relative arrangement of parts being much the same as in thehydraulic construction heretofore described and shown in Fig. In thepresent case the plungers are thrust outward by means of a bar T7 which,is slidablyfmounted in the auger D and provided with cams 81 whichslidablv engage the heads of the plungers 30. The

i cam bar 77 is moved endwise by means of a screw 78 which is threadedthrough a 'block 79 carried by the auger, has a swivel conne"- tion atone end with the cam bar 77 and is provided at its other end with a handwheel 80. The ram bar 77 is held against rotation about its longitudinalaxis b v means ot' a screw 82 which engages longitudinal slot 83 in thelcam bar. It will be seen that when the cam bar is forced inward byrotation of the cam wheel 80, the plungers 30 are forced radiallyoutward to break down the coal. and when the cam 1bar is moved in theopposite direction the plungers are retracted by the springs 43.

The operation of the machine will be readily understood from theforegoing de* scription. Assuming, for the purposn of illustration, thatthe machine is to be used in a room land pillar mine, the procedure isas follows:

The coal having been undercut by any desired means, my breaking down andloading machine is set down adjacent the face of the coal, preferably atone of the ribs. In Fig. 1 I have shown the machine disposed -in thecorner of the room formed by the face and the right rib'. The carriage Cbeing duly retracted, the cable 68 is passed over the pulley 74 andcarried forward along the side ofthe machine, as indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 1, and made fast at a point adjacent the face. The movableshaft section 5 having been placed in position between the clutches 58and 63, the motor is now started so as to turn the winding drum 66 anddraw the machine endwise toward the fare of the coal. When the front endof the projected fully into the bottom kerf of the coal, the motor isstopped, the shaft section 75 removed, and the conveyer F is runintooperative position and connected by means of the clutch 58 with theshaft 8 of the conveyer B.

The yoke which carries the auger D is then swung over to the left 'byactuating the crank 23 until it approach-es a horizont-al position, asshown by dotted lines in Fig. 4. This brings the auger about into theposition corresponding to the circle a in Fig. 9. The motor is nowstarted so as to rotate the auger D, and the carriageis gradually fedforward by turning the screw 27.

The auger having been driven fully into the coal in this manner, theclutch 12b is disengaged so as to stop the auger with the hyllt) draulicplungers 30 facing downward. The pump 34 is now actuated so as to forceliquid into the plunger chambers, and the plungers 30 are forceddownward, the auger reacting upward against the overlying lcoal or rock.The downward pressure of the plungers causes a portion of the coalunderlying the auger to be broken down in the manner indicated in Fig.9. of the drawing. The coal thus loosened falls upon the conveyer Bwhich carries it to the rear and' discharges it into the conveyer Fwhich in turn discharges it into a mine car. The coal having been forceddown, the operator retracts tlie hydraulic plungers by opening thebypass valve 42.

The carriage C is now retracted by turning the screw 27 andthe auger isthen swung over to the right to a position preferably somewhat abovethat shown in full lines in Fig. 4 and indicated by the circle'b in Fig.9. The clutch 12b is now thrown into operative position, the auger againfed forward, and the coal broken down and loaded into the car in themanner just described.

The carriage having again been retracted, the pulley'blocks 69 and 70are made fast at suitable points to the left of the machine, and thecable 68 is passed around the pulleys 69 and 70 and thence back to themachine to which-it is made fast at 73. The winding drum 66 is no wstarted by throwing in the clutch 63, and the cable is thus wound upuntil the machine is drawn far enough tothe left to make additional cutswith the auger. Preferably the machine will be moved far enough so thatthe au er, when swung to an upright position, wil occupy the ositionindicated by the circle c in Fig. 9. Veit/h the auger in this position,the carriage is again fed forward and the operation of drilling,breaking down and loading is repeated as before. In this manner the workis continued until the machine has been moved clear across the face.During the progress of the machine along the face, the auxiliaryconveyer F is gradually swung about its pivotal support 49, remainingconstantly in operative relation with the main part of the machine andwith the cars on the track.

While I have shown a preferred form of my invention, it should beunderstood that some of the parts can 'be modified without affecting theo eration of other parts, and that some of t e features are usefulindependently.

This application is a division of my application filed October 22, 1910,Serial No. 588,- Li71 now Patent 1,319,156, Oct. 21, 1919.

What I claim is:

1. In a loadingmachine, the combination of a primary conveyer adapted toinitially receive material of the character of broken coal, an auxiliaryconveyer having its receiving end pivotally connnected on anupright axisto the discharge end of the primary conveyer, and a movable support uponwhich theauxiliary conveyer is pivoted at its discharge end so as toswing laterally.

2. In a loading machine, the combination of a primary conveyer adaptedto initially receive material of the character of broken coal, anauxiliary conveyer having its receiving end pivotally connected on anupright aXls to the discharge end of the primary conveyer, a movable suport upon w ich the auxiliary conveyer is pivoted at its discharge endso as to swing laterally, and means for moving the primary conveyerlaterally.

3. In a loading machine, the combination of a primary conveyeradapted toinitially receive material of the character of broken coal, an auxiliaryconveyer having its receiving end pivotallyconnected on an upright axisto the discharge end of the primary conveyer, and a wheeled truck u onwhich the auxiliary conveyer is pivot at its discharge end so as toswing laterally.

4. In a machine for loading coal, the combination of a primary conveyerto initially receive the broken down coa an auxiliary conveyer havingits receiving end pivotally connected on an upright axis to thedischarge end of the primary conveyer and separable therefrom, a movablesupport upon which the second conveyer is pivoted at its discharge endso as to swing laterally, a motor mounted on one of the conveyers, anddisengageable driving connections between said conveyer and the otherconve er.

5. In an apparatus for loa ing coal, the combination with a frameadapted to be moved laterally along the face of the coal, a conveyermounted on said frame and adapted-to enter a horizontal undercut in thecoal to receive the material as it is broken down, an auxiliary conveyerhaving its receiving end pivotally connected on an upright axis to thedischarge end of the first conveyer, and a movable support u on whichthe auxiliary conveyer is pivote at its discharge end so as to swinglaterally.

6. In an apparatus for loading coal, the combination with a. frameadapted to be moved laterally alon the face of the coal, a conveyermounte on the frame and adapted to enter a horizontal undercut in thecoal to receive the material as it is broken down, an auxiliary conveyerhaving its receiving end pivotallv connected on an upright axis to thedischarge end of the first conveyer and a movable support for itsdischarge end adapted to permit a combined lateral and endwise movementof said auxiliary conveyer as the said frame is moved along the face ofthe coal.

7. In an apparatus for loading coal, the combination of a trackextending at an angle to the face of the coal, a car on said track, aframe movable along the face of the coal, a receiving conveyer upon saidframe adapted at its receiving end to be introduced under said coal faceto receive the coal as it -is broken down, a loading conveyer having itsreceivingA end connected to the discharge end of the receiving conveyerby a vertical pivot bodily movable laterally, said loading conveyerextending thence rearward and upward to a .point over said car, and apivotal support for the rear` end of said loading conveyer whereby saidreceiving and loading conveyers are adjustable to diierent an lesrelative to the face of the coal and to t e track as and for the purposeIset forth,

8. In an apparatus for loading coal, the combination of a frame movablealong the face of the coal, a receiving conveyer upon said frame adaptedat its receiving end to be introduced under said coal face to receifvethe c'oal as it is broken down, a loading conveyer having its receivingend connected to the discharge end of the'receiving conveyer by avertical ivot bodily movable laterally, said loading conveyer extendingthence rearward and upward t0 relatively elevated points whereby it isadapted to deliver coal to a mine car, a ivotal support for the rear endof said oading conveyer adapted to movement along a path extending at anangle from said coal face whereby said receiving and loading conveyersare adjustable to dierent angles relative to the face of the coal and tothe path of said pivotal support as and for the purpose set orth.

9. In a loading apparatus, the' combination of a primar conveyer adaptedto lat-` eral movement a ong right lines in substantial parallelism, anauxiliary conveyer pivotally connected to said primary conveyer,

. and a movable pivotal support for the discharge end of said auxiliaryconveyer said support being limited to movements along a pathperpendicular to the path of the primary conveyer.

10. In a loading apparatus, the combination with a primary conveyeradapted to lateral movement along right lines in substantialparallelism, an lauxiliary conveyer having its receiving end pivotallyconnected with the discharge end of the primar conveyer, and a movablepivotal support or the discharge end of sald auxiliary conveyer saidsupport being limited to movements along a' path perpendicular to thepath of the primary conveyer.

11. In a loading apparatus, the combina-- tion with a main frame adaptedto rest upon and slide over the mine floor, a primary conveyer supportedupon said frame and ada ted to be positioned in any desired angulinrelation with the coal face to receive material as it is broken down,means to move the frame transversely of thecoal face in substantialparallelism, an auxiliary conveyer pivotally connected with the primary'conveyer to receive material therefrom, a

versely of the coal face in substantial parallelism, an auxiliaryconveyer having its receiving end pivotally connected on an upright axisto the discharge end of the prlmary conveyer, a movable support u onwhich the auxiliaryV conveyer is pivote at its discharge end saidmovable support being confined to movements along right linesperpendicular to the path of travel of the primaryconveyer.

In testimony whereof I alixA my signature.

mns n. Lnvm.

